What goods or services do you provide? We are a full service storage facility, offering three sizes of cold storage units, plus outdoor parking.

What's new or exciting at your place? We have a state of the art security camera system that watches the property 24/7 and bright LED energy-saving lighting around the premises.

What strategy do you use to differentiate your business from the competition? We take the time to reach out to wherever our potential customers are located. We use technology plus person-to-person contact to meet customers and let them know about our services. Many of our customers have been for years and are our best referral system. Our business is also locally owned and operated, not part of a large corporation, so we have the flexibility to tailor our business to meet the unique needs of valley resident and businesses.

What philosophy do you follow in dealing with your customers? We make the effort to clearly understand a customer's needs for storage or parking. We take the time to give them personalized service and options designed for their own budget and requirements. We let them know that we appreciate their business and use their input and feedback to act on those suggestions and ideas.

What can your customers expect from you? The owners have long term experience with living and running a business in the valley and we bring that knowledge and experience when working with our customers. Many know us personally and understand that they can always contact us should they have questions, suggestions or concerns.

Tell us a little about your background, education and experience: We were long time residents of the Vail area, owning our own businesses including Valley Wide Plumbing and Heating, Vail Valley Plumbing and Clothing Works Fabric shop. We maintain our contact to the valley through Gateway Storage and through friends in the area.

Tom has a bachelor's degree in business administration through Rockhurst College and Joyce holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry. We have been partners in business since early in our marriage and enjoy working together.

We also owned and operated businesses when we lived in Kansas and have done turnarounds, management and restructuring of other companies here in Colorado. We currently have our own plumbing and heating business in the Denver area called Cardom Plumbing and Heating. Tom is currently working on his Executive MBA degree through CSU.

What is the most humorous thing that has happened at your business since you opened? Working with the public is always fun and brings some interesting questions and requests. No one incident stands out as the most humorous but we do know that customers appreciate that we take their needs seriously! One fun fact about our business is that we were one of the first businesses in the Gateway Business Park which has now grown to include Costco, San Isabel Telecom, Gypsum Urgent Care, Ferguson Plumbing Supply and others. It is amazing how much it has grown in the almost 16 years we have been in business there.